Harry Potter VS Twilight: Harry Potter always wins
by dreamer1293
Summary: So, this past semester I took a college course on Writing and my final project was a research essay on anything I want so I of course chose Harry Potter, and explaining once and for all why it is better than twilight in all ways so I decided to share my findings with all of you. Enjoy!
1. Introduction

Over the last decade or so there has been an uproar and serious debate over two book series; _Harry Potter_ by J.K. Rowling and _Twilight _by Stephanie Meyer. Fans of both series have come forth, in all manner of ways, to convince the world that their story is better, but there will no longer be any need for that. With this research paper I will conclusively prove what everyone knows in their hearts: _Harry Potter is _better than _Twilight_. All one has to do is look at the facts. The writing and storytelling is more complex and detailed than _Twilight_; the genres are varied so there is something for everyone in the _Harry Potter_ books; the characters are imperfect but realistic and much more lovable than the _Twilight _characters; and finally the morals in _Harry Potter _are much more desirable than _Twilight._ The _Harry Potter _books teach us how to be brave and true to yourself despite adversity. They teach us about love and loss and friendship; _Twilight_ doesn't.

It occurs to me that people reading this may not have the best understanding of what these two series are all about, in which case all my research and points in the paper would become moot. So, let us first explore what these series are all about.

_Harry Potter_, a seven book and eight movie series that has dominated both the bestseller list and the theaters since they first came on the scene with H_arry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone_ in Britain in 1997. It has captured the hearts and minds of children and adults alike and because of the multitude of books it is hard to find a brief summary of the whole series, but where there is a will there is a way, "The novels revolve around Harry Potter, an orphan who discovers that he is a wizard. Wizard ability is inborn, but children are sent to wizarding school to learn the magical skills necessary to succeed in the wizarding world. Harry is invited to attend the boarding school called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Each book chronicles one year in Harry's life, and most of the events take place at Hogwarts. As he struggles through adolescence, Harry learns to overcome many magical, social and emotional hurdles" (Jackk). Truer words were never spoken, because that is what Harry Potter is all about. It may have wizards, and magic, and epic battles between good and evil, but at the heart of it all, this story is about growing up and dealing with everything that goes with it including: the loss of innocence, gaining wisdom, discovering love, and in the end saying goodbye to your childhood as you begin the next chapter of your life.

_Twilight_ is a completely different concept entirely, "_Twilight_ is a young adult vampire-romance novel written by author Stephenie Meyer... It is the first book of the Twilight series, and introduces seventeen-year-old Isabella 'Bella' Swan who moves from Phoenix, Arizona, to Forks, Washington, and finds her life in danger when she falls in love with a vampire, Edward Cullen. The novel is followed by _New Moon_, _Eclipse_, and _Breaking Dawn_" (Wiki). As you can see, the _Twilight_ and _Harry Potter_ seriesare completely different, which is why it always baffled me when people would compare the two, and even more so when they would say that _Twilight _was better. It's not. Beyond the romance part there isn't really any plot to the series. Meyer tries to incorporate a plot with the Volturi but it is not thought through and rarely comes up in the story.


	2. The writing Style

The first thing that strikes you with each series is the writing style. Many people say that Stephanie Meyer writes well because she uses big words, but if that were true then, in the words of a kindred spirit, "If using big words makes a book good, an ape with a thesaurus can write a completely fabulous novel" (_PygmyPuff14_). She tries to make the book literary, but here is what she does and doesn't do: she has a lot of "big words", way too many adjectives, few similes, no metaphors and extremely insignificant details. Speaking of insignificant details, here is a short list compiled by a loyal fan, References to Edward's Beauty: 165, Broken Down into the following categories -

Body Part

Times Mentioned

Additional Comments

Face

24

Favorite adjectives: glorious, heavenly, seraph

Voice

20

The voice of an archangle

Eyes

17

Movement

11

Smile

10

Teeth

8

Muscles

7

Skin

7

Note: This only contains accounts of Edward's skin being beautiful. I didn't count references to it as "pale," "cold," or "white." If I had, this number would be about ten times larger

Iron Strength or Limbs

5

Breathe

4

(EVEN HIS BREATH IS AMAZING

Scent

4

Laughter

3

Handwriting

2

Chest

2

Driving Skills

1

(yahoo answers)

Describing for pages the physical details of the characters is not a literary action, it is what smut 'novels' do, but at least those novels have metaphors, even if they are all for a certain male genetalia.

J. K. Rowling on the other hand displays a unique and sophisticated writing style as one literary critic confirmed, "The writer talks to the audience in ways and tones which they understand and yet are challenged by at the same time. This style notably changes as the book progresses from the first year to the seventh. By advancing the style with each book, the author encourages the children to new heights of reading ability" (_Jones_). So not only is Rowling creating an exciting and interesting book to get children interested in reading, she is also subtly developing that child's literacy. Another discernible trait of her series is that nothing is insignificant. Unlike _Twilight_ where Meyer peppers in pointless descriptions of clothes, everything Rowling mentions, even in passing, is important to the story. In the very first chapter of the very first book Rowling mentions Sirius Black letting Hagrid borrow his bike in order to bring Harry to Dumbledore at the Dursley's and that is all she says about that until... Two books later that anonymous name, Sirius Black, is a vital character and the "villain" of the third book. There are so many clues and hints of future events, things that sometimes don't happen for several books, in the writing that makes the whole series tie together in such a poetic and comprehensive way.


	3. Character and Character Development

A defining point of any book or book series is its characters and the character development. Twilight doesn't have a lot of character development and on a literary level, character development is a huge part of any book. The people have to change, that's what makes it a story. Things happen, people grow and they change. That is life and _Twilight_ does not really represent that. The main character of the series, Bella Swan, shows a little character development but not much and the type of development isn't a positive one, "But then Bella meets a boy and all her reason and power dissipate. After she starts dating Edward she quits making decisions for herself and being the strong unique girl that caught his eye." (Kerns, #1).

Bella is a reasonably strong character in the beginning of the series but as the series grows she doesn't, in fact she starts to lose any semblance of maturity or reason that she started with. After meeting Edward she stops talking to everybody at her school who were trying to be her friend, she focuses so much on him, his family, and his drama that the actual substance of this character becomes lost. By the end of the series she is making dangerous and immature decisions; such as, getting pregnant knowing it could kill her, getting married just so she can have sex. Any kind of power or sense of self she had before was gone so she becomes a vampire in a desperate attempt to belong.

She isn't the only character that disintegrates through the series either. Edward started off as this strong, mysterious, sexy character, which doesn't appeal to me personally but I understand why people might have liked him. I thought he was a bit creepy and I didn't like him but I kept reading only to discover that his character, which had started off so strong, disintegrates just like Bella's character. One fan laments, "The Edward in Breaking Dawn was bland. The Edward in Breaking Dawn became a doormat to Bella's desires and became almost nonexistent in the story progression. I don't feel I learned anything new or interesting about him after book one, or even that I was reading the same character. By the time Breaking Dawn ended, I just wanted the Edward of Twilight back" (Kerns, #1).It was a reasonable thing to want because even though I didn't even like the character, at least Edward in Twilight was a solid character.

_Harry Potter,_ on the other hand, has long been praised for its realistic and complex characters and distinct character development, "One of the beacons of JKR's talent is her ability to write so many different characters all with varying and distinct personalities through a time in life when one develops and changes the most and keep all their personalities consistent" (Kerns, #1). The main characters in _Harry Potter_ are Harry, Ron, and Hermione; often referred to as 'The Golden Trio' by fans of the series because the strength and endurance of their friendship is legendary. They have stood by each other from the age of 11 through their entire lives, facing trolls and tests, dark wizards and first loves. Together they grow as a trio into the confident and skilled wizards that end up being the downfall of the Dark Lord.

As all fans will testify, each and every character, no matter how big or small, has grown from the first book to the seventh. Some have developed for the worse and some for the better, but all around after reading this series you get the feeling that you have grown up with these characters, "Through the novels, one gets a real sense that these kids are growing and learning and preparing for the epic battle that is their destiny. Nobody would think the 11-year-old boy would be ready for the fight, but by the end of book seven he is. Because we as readers have grown with him, we are fully invested in his outcome and become emotional about his destiny" (Kerns, #1), as one fan puts it. Another distinctive aspect of the characters in JKR's story are the sheer number of characters the series contains. There are many characters in the _Harry Potter_ series, most of whom aren't explored in depth but rather mentioned in passing during a conversation about the ministry or quidditch, etc. which I believe only adds to the realism of this series, because JKR didn't just create a story about one boy and some of his friends; she created a whole new **world** and people to occupy it.


	4. Morality

As has been stated many times before, _Twilight_ is a nice series if you're looking for a mindless fantasy to dive into; but it is not typically a series that can be taken seriously as literature like the _Harry Potter_ series can. The primary reason the _Twilight_ series cannot be considered a worthwhile read, and certainly nowhere near the good standing of _Harry Potter_, is the moral implications that this series offers its readers. The role of women and Bella & Edward's example of a 'loving' relationship are disturbing features of the series. My concerns are shared by many people as is shown in this scholarly essay written by English Major Elizabeth Welch, "In the story, Edward breaks into Bella's room and watches her sleep every night, and this begins months before he admits to his feelings for her or even acknowledges her as a friend. Edward is always very protective of what Bella does and where she goes, gets jealous, and is often very controlling" (Welch). This type of relationship is not healthy, in fact it is abusive as according to _Women's Aid_:

Emotional Abuse-

destructive criticism, name calling, sulking

pressure tactics

lying to you, or to your friends and family about you

persistently putting you down in front of other people

never listening or responding when you talk

isolating you from friends and family, monitoring your phone calls, emails, texts and letters

checking up on you, following you, not letting you go out alone (_Women's Aid)_

The promotion of this type of relationship as being true love is dangerous because all the pre-teen and teenage girls who read this are getting the message that if you're in love it is completely okay for your partner to control you and take away your power and individuality because that's all a part of being in love. Many people concur with me that this is unacceptable, "Edward monitors Bella throughout the entire series, from having Alice check her future, to literally stalking her to Phoenix, to sneaking into her bedroom to watch her sleep, and so on. And what is most worrying about this is that in the context of the narrative, these abusive traits are romanticised and idealised. This normalises abusive behaviour, and considering the demographic as_ Twilight_ (tween and teenagers who are first forming their ideas about love and sex) this is even more disgraceful...We also see Edward isolating Bella from her friends and family. For example, he takes the engine out of her car to prevent her from seeing her friend, Jacob" (O'Rourke).

One of the reasons this series is praised is because it supposedly teaches children proper Christian morals like abstinence and why you shouldn't get abortions. For example, Bella and Edward didn't have sex until they got married, and keeping her half-vampire baby despite the fact that bearing the child could kill her. Do not get me wrong, I am a proud supporter of abstinence and I am pro-life, but the way this book preaches it is very off-putting. Bella and Edward get married while Bella is still in her teens. I don't know about anyone else but I believe in only getting married once and to the right person, which is supposedly what Meyer is trying to promote in her books.

Considering, though, that we now know that Edward and Bella's relationship is abusive, she shouldn't be committing to him for the rest of her life, and indeed for the rest eternity since she was made into a vampire around this time. Edward is not the only problem in their relationship dynamic either, the character of Bella is simply not a good role model for young girls. She is weak-willed and sex-crazed; in fact the only reason they made the lifelong commitment of marriage is just so they could have sex, such an immature decision from an immature young woman. No adult steps in either, to tell her that she is throwing her life a way for a few moments pleasure and putting her life in danger for a child that could kill her just by being born, thus, Meyer cements the idea that this is a good decision. But it is not.

On that same note, many Christian groups are of the belief that Harry Potter is a terrible series because it promotes interest in the occult. This leads me to believe that they have never actually read the series. Although it takes place in a fictional land and is about witches and wizards, the problems these characters face are entirely realistic. War, death of a loved one, growing up, finding love, jealousy, and understanding life are all realistic themes in Harry Potter and the moral instruction that follows these themes are very Christian in nature and far more so than in the _Twilight_ books.

In _Harry Potter_, the topic of physical intimacy is not even approached until the sixth book, Harry only just had his first kiss when he was fifteen, and it is regarded as a byproduct of close relationship that eventually will lead to marriage; but neither Harry nor Ginny are so obsessed with it that they feel the need to get married as a teenager and they probably had a lot more reason to than Edward and Bella. With a war on their heels and Voldemort gunning for Harry's death, along with anyone who stands by him, Rowling could have had Harry and Ginny get married in case one or both of them died. Instead she has Harry selflessly break up with Ginny in order to protect her from Voldemort's wrath. Afterwards Ginny does not become depressed and suicidal, instead she fights back against these forces that separated her and Harry, as well as threaten so many people that she loved.

Another major aspect of the _Twilight_ series that fans praise, is that the major, and some would say only, theme is the power of love. Fans of Twilight has long held that up as being the reason that _Twilight_ surpasses_ Harry Potter_, because HP apparently is too dark and doesn't have enough love scenes/romance in it. I will concede that if you are looking for whole chapters filled with graphic descriptions of physical and emotional coupling, you will not find it in Harry Potter. But it is completely idiotic to say that _Harry Potter_ does not showcase love as an important theme, in fact there is a much broader representation of love in _Harry Potter_ than in _Twilight. _

One fan eloquently sums it up when she says, "Obviously, first and foremost, the books as a whole are a lesson that love conquers all. Anyone who has read and truly understands the meaning of Harry Potter can't argue the fact that love underlies each aspect of the plot...Sure, Bella and Edward are in love. But Lily died for her son Harry, saving his life. Dumbledore completely changed his ways after the accidental murder of his sister, whom he loved above all others. Snape completely changed his alliance, risked his life, protected Harry, and eventually died all because of his love for Lily" (Kerns,#3). There are so many different kinds of love out there besides the obsessive and emotionally abusive kind that _Twilight_ presents. _Harry Potter_ shows the love one can have for their friends, their siblings, their parents, their children, their country, and so many more.

Harry even teaches us to have compassion for our enemies like when Dumbledore is showing Harry how Voldemort came into this world, the tragic tale of his mother and father. Dumbledore tries to show Harry why, despite everything he has done, Voldemort deserves some level of compassion too, "Yes, Merope Riddle chose death in spite of a son who needed her, but do not judge her too harshly, Harry. She was greatly weakened by long suffering and she never had your mother's courage" (Rowling, HBP). That seems like a far more Christian lesson than anything in _Twilight._

In many ways, _Harry Potter_ teaches us life lessons about Friendship, Choices, Mortality, War, Love, Family and the complexity of life. There are so many good lessons and morals contained within these seven books, in fact, that there is no way I could give them all justice in this paper. It should be noted, though, that tolerance of others is a major theme in the series. One of the main conflicts of the books is between purebloods and muggleborns, in fact that is what the wizarding war was all about. Voldemort wanted to eradicate all muggleborn witches and wizards as well as rule over all the muggles because he, and his pureblood followers, thought of them as less than human. The war itself is reminiscent of the second World War and Hitler's attempt to eradicate the Jews.

Harry's best friend, Hermione Granger, is a muggleborn and the intolerance towards her can be shown as early as the second book when Malfoy calls her a 'mudblood', a disgusting and derogatory term for muggleborns. As the series matures, so too does the intolerance, Rowling shows us all the evil that intolerance, which can start as innocuously as being upset at getting shown up, can become when Hermione is tortured and treated as less than human simply for how she was born. It's a tale as old as time and I think Dumbledore sums up Rowling's message towards intolerance in her series when when he says, "You place too much importance... on the so-called purity of blood! You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be!" (Rowling, GOF).


	5. Closing and Works Cited

After reviewing the reasons stated above I think we can all agree that the _Harry Potter_ series by J.K. Rowling is a far better work of literary fiction than the _Twilight _series. The writing is complex, detailed, and significant to the overall plot; the characters develop at a reasonable rate as they grow from loveable little kids into kickass adults that save the world; and their fictional lives teach us many important lessons about real life, not least of which is the all-conquering power of love and the importance of tolerance to peace. The _Twilight_ series simply does not provide any literary or real life significance beyond that of a any typical paperback 'romance' novel and it should not be taken seriously in any sphere lest the damaging behaviours shown in the books be passed on to the next generation. In the end, though, it's not so much the books that we should focus on, but what we glean from them. I think Dumbledore said it best when he stated, "It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live" (Rowling, SS)

Works Cited

Anandane, Uma. "Harry Potter - a Brief Summary on the Books - Perpetual Mind." _Harry Potter - a Brief Summary_. Perpetual Mind, n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2013.

Jackk. "Yahoo Answers." . N.p., 2009. Web. Apr. 2013.

Jones, Joshua. "Literary Analysis: Harry Potter, Literary Insult or Revolutionary Tale." _Helium_. Helium, 30 Apr. 2007. Web. 1 May 2013.

Kerns, Michelle. "The Twilight vs. Harry Potter Debate : Team Potter and Team Twilight Take on Question #1." . N.p., 24 Dec. 2008. Web. 20 May 2013.

Kerns, Michelle. "The Twilight vs Harry Potter Debate: Question #3." . N.p., 24 Dec. 2008. Web. 20 May 2013.

O'Rourke, Sarah. "Sarah Gets Critical." _Sarah Gets Critical_. N.p., 13 Nov. 2012. Web. 22 May 2013.

PygmyPuff14. "Rant On Stephanie Meyer's Writing..." _Harry Potter Vs. Twilight_. , n.d. Web. 1 May 2013.

Rowling, J. K., and Mary GrandPré. _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire_. New York: Arthur A. Levine, 2000. Print.

Rowling, J. K., and Mary GrandPré. _Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince_. New York, NY: Arthur A. Levine, 2005. Print.

"Topic: Emotional Abuse." _Emotional Abuse_. Women's Aid, n.d. Web. 22 May 2013.

"Twilight." _Summary at WikiSummaries, Free Book Summaries._ Wiki Summaries, n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2013.

Welch, Elizabeth Francesca. _MEDIA LITERACY EDUCATION APPLICATIONS: TWILIGHT AND GREY'S ANATOMY AS ANTI-FEMINIST MEDIA_. Diss. Oklahoma State University, 2009.

Addendum

I**nteresting Websites:**

/private_

/2010/12/11/literature-commentary-harry-potter-ser ies/

items/309328-literary-analysis-harry-potter-litera ry-insult-or-revolutionary-tale

2009/01/07/harry-potter-vs-twilight/

**Harry Potter as a Morality Tale: Thesis**

** . ?sequence=1**

**Epic Fail Twitards:**

2011/04/29/why-harry-potter-kinda-sucks/  
2010/10/15/why-twilight-is-better-than-harry-potte r/

. ?n=6877

**Awesome Quotes:**

"The Potter Series is magical world of love , fun , romance, hate , curse and rebirth"(Anandane)

"Harry Potter is about confronting fears, finding inner strength and doing what is right in the face of adversity. Twilight is about how important it is to have a boyfriend." - Stephen King

.

"We must try not to sink beneath our anguish, Harry, but battle on" (Rowling, HBP)

"It was, he thought, the difference between being dragged into the arena to face a battle to the death and walking into the arena with your head held high. Some people, perhaps, would say that there was little to choose between the two ways, but Dumbledore knew - _and so do I_, thought Harry, with a rush of fierce pride,_and so did my parents_ - that there was all the difference in the world." (Rowling, HBP)

"Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it." (Rowling, GOF)

"If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals" (Rowling GOF)

"I say there are spots that don't come off... Spots that never come off, d'you know what I mean?" (Rowling, GOF)

"As much money and life as you could want! The two things most human beings would choose above all - the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them." (Rowling, COS)


End file.
